Perhaps. I won't testify to Protestantism at large, but historically, in the main, the reformers were right on authority and soteriology and the Catholics were wrong. And those are two big issues. To this day, the Catholic church has not repented of their false teaching on these matters. They have not changed what they believe.And that is serious.
I would have to agree with you there.
Wow, we've come a long way since one of the first debates I had on this forum which was with you over Catholicism. :thumbs:
I believe the Catholic church has repented and changed of a lot of problems it has had since around the time of the reformation.
However you are correct that on the issues of soteriology and authority they still fall short of the mark.
I beg to differ - Augustine of Hippo? Anselm of Bec? (Plus the old saying about the Lutheran Reformation being about Augustine's theology of salvation versus his theology of the Church.)
Pastor Larry, as I understand most Protestant theology, it says that perservering is an evidence of our salvation, not the cause of our salvation. Polycarp and others actually believed, and warned others, that if they did A, they would be damned. It was a warning, not saying, "If you do A you were never saved to begin with" but, "If you do A, you will be damned".
So there is most definitely a difference in how a lot of Christians have viewed salvation. They hailed it as by grace alone, but they also saw the danger of apostasy, both from turning from the teachings of Christ to trust in a false Gospel, and also apostasy in the form of leaving the path of righteousness to trudge on the path of unrighteousness. This doesn't mean they were right on this issue, but it means that we have to broaden our views of orthodoxy enough to allow Christians from after Clement to before Luther to be considered saved.